Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Welcome to week 5 of my Imagine that series, where we will discover a few of the amazing things that can be done with the Cricut Imagine machine. Even if you don't have an Imagine yet, today's project is a fun way to countdown the days of Christmas in style! This super fun clipboard is not only a shopping Divas fashionable way to count down those oh so important shopping days left, but its a great way to jot down your list, a place to gather coupons and ads, and keep receipts in check! We all need one of these, its the next best thing to having a personal assistant :) well almost *wink*

The days were hand cut from Imaginisce cozy cottage paper, all 25 days are on one 12x12 sheet, how easy is that? I used a colorful clip to make changing the days a breeze! The tower of packages..{and the girl carrying them} was cut using the fit to page function, with an additional layer of packages to add depth. This will give you the perfect size for a clipboard, approx 12 inches tall. I added a bit of glitter, and ribbon to my boxes, and a triple combo of thickers, stickers, and a cricut phrase spell it all out!

From 1-25 these numbers are as chic as they are funky!

A small glassine envelope attached to the back of the clipboard keep all the numbers handy, and contained!

Monday, November 29, 2010

Ho Ho Ho!!! A water colored Set of Santas have got my Christmas mojo going! Yep you guessed right, its Monday and that means that I am playing along with this weeks Mojo Monday sketch, it's no secret that I love a good sketch! I realized yesterday that I better get started on my Christmas cards...and quick, I usually make a giant batch of all the same card, but this year I think I'm going to break it up into more manageable sessions.

These Santa cards will be on their way to some of the special kiddos in my life, they are so cheerful and bright! I feel so accomplished...even though I still have not done any shopping yet {or handmade gifts} yikes I better get crackin' :)

I found this soft and tiny tinsel trim at Joann's, its super easy to work with and I love the vintage feel of the Santa and kitchsy tinsel together, it reminds me of the 60's...... not that Im old enough to remember the 60's!!! :) ..no really Im not!

I healthy coat of stickles gives Old Saint Nick a shimmer that is so fun to look at in person! Santa is heat embossed onto watercolor paper and colored with SU markers, and watercolor pencils and an aquapainter, then cut with nesties. The happy and cheerful paper is called candy cane Christmas from Stampin'Up!

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Well....... the first Noel of the season anyways! This quick and oh so sparkly tag is the perfect kick start for my Holiday projects, I LOVE to add special touches to my gift wrapping and a festive tag is one of the best ways to "pump up the glam!" This tag is six inches with pre-made glitter chipboard letters. The paper and embellishments are from American crafts dear Lizzy collection.

To create the tag I turned to my trusty cricut expression, I cut the paper and two layers of thin cardboard, all three were fused together for stability, I don't want my tag to be floppy after all :) Many cartridges have tag cuts on them , this one is from the sentimentals cartridge. No cricut? Office supply stores carry many sizes of plain tags that can be embellished...so go on now, and make something sparkly!

How many pies do you bake for Thanksgiving? I LOVE pumpkin pie and tried a new recipe this year, its called Pumpkin Walnut layered elegant pie. The bottom half of the pie is a sweet mixture of toasted walnuts, butter, vanilla and brown sugar, the pumpkin portion is mixed with cream cheese and all of the traditional ingredients you would usually find in Pumpkin pie. What makes it really special are the cut leaves scattered across the top, I have been cutting up a {pie crust} storm with my cricut cake mini the last few days! If you are a circle member than check out today's post on the Circle blog to see the project I made with the Cake mini! If you are not a circle member yet and want to be vistit Provocraft and get all of the details!

The leaves were cut from the Straight from the nest cartridge at sizes varying from 3" to 5" set on real size function. They are baked for 12 minutes @ 350 degrees with a brushed coat of egg~ but be careful not to walk away and forget about them....{I don't know who would do such a thing ahem..} LOL Now the real question is can I resist the urge to slice into this pie and have a big piece for breakfast? ;)

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

I'm so Thankful for you! Thank you so much for taking a minute or two to visit my little blog in the midst of Holiday preparations, errands, and everyday life! Today like most of you I have been to the grocery store to stock up on beverages and yummy Thanksgiving ingredients, doing a bit of cleaning, and starting to dream of Christmas shopping........

I wanted to stop for a minute and reflect on how grateful I am for my crafty friends, you all inspire and uplift me! Crafting has literally changed my life for the better. I have discovered a talent I never knew I had. and I have discovered a world of amazing people who like me enjoy the decorated life.

Thank you for sharing , for your kindness, and for your friendship, I'm so lucky to know you!

My card features 2 brand new images at lalaland crafts Fancy Marci and Formal Luka they are available for a short time as digital images so if you love them you better snap them up quick! How cute are they together?ca-ute! Did you notice that pretty title at the top of the card? I used the cricut imagine and the imagine more cartridge to create the frame, and a sentiment from the super gorgeous totally in love with Teresa Collins Giving Thanks collection I love this collection of papers and they can be used for many occasions not just for Thanksgiving, these papers are so me!

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Welcome Back to the Imagine that series, where I discover and explore the possibilities of the Cricut Imagine and share my journey with you! Today is project #4 and the technique is embossing isolated layers, as well as changing the paper pattern within an image. If you are a fan of Mojo Monday than you will certainly recognize this layout as this weeks sketch, I LOVE having a sketch to use as a springboard for my cards!

First lets talk texture...I know you have heard me say it again and again, but texture is an amazing way to add interest and dimension to your projects, and embossing your Imagine layers are no different! The sweet pink frosting layer is embossed with the swiss dots folder and a touch of stickles to each little dot gives the look of dimensional frosting! The bottom layers are embossed with a swirl and as always popped up with foam dots...I seriously buy several packs of pop dots at a time because as a papercrafter these are your best friend!

The Cake and the tag were both printed and cut from Imagine more cards art cartridge, the tag originally had a blue and green stripe at the bottom, I edited the lower portion to be a pink print, and voila it matches my Paper girl papers from The Girls Paperie perfectly! {say that 3 times fast} *giggle*

So plug in that Imagine and get some images printed and cut, then emboss your layers with your cuttlebug folders and see how much it changes the overall effect, I promise you will love this technique just as much as you do on your plain cardstock!

Friday, November 19, 2010

Happy Friday {before} Black Friday! I have a pretty Turkey to share with you today, I made this card for Mr. Wonderful for Thanksgiving I want him to know how grateful I am for him everyday! I have been literally itching to cut this Turkey from the Thanksgiving cartridge.... and you know he came out completely different than I had imagined he would, but I LOVE this gorgeous swirly bird!

This cartridge does not have a Shadow or blackout key, but I created a makeshift shadow layer by cutting another turkey 1/4" bigger...its not a perfect fit, but I rather like the way it looks like an angled shadow, sometimes you just have to experiment and see how it turns out, its only paper right?

I need to restock my supply of linen thread by Stampin'up! Its one of those staple items that I just cant seem to create without, maybe a bit of crafty shopping can kick start my Holidays...I have not gotten a single thing yet, I don't even have a list! {please don't turn me in to the shopping diva club!}

Well if a Gypsy is on your wish list see this post to enter to win! If you already have one enter to win and give it as a gift to your very best crafty friend...she will Love you forever!

*Enabler Alert* Lalaland crafts is having a first time ever sale on Marci and Luka stamps check it out!

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Have you seen this weeks Mojo Monday sketch? Its a fun one and I just didn't want to let the week go by without playing along, Plus it gave me a great reason to make a few more projects with the Thanksgiving cartridge! {like I needed a reason :) }

Believe it or not these papers are from Echo Parks Happy Halloween line, I just adore the pumpkin print and hello its perfect for fall! That just goes to show ya' that you have to be willing to open up to all of the possibilities of your papers, stamps and cartridges, they are far more versatile than we think at first!

OK so I DID embellish the inside of the card so it will be pretty...but the real reason is so I wont have room to write a novel, because seriously if I have an inch of room I'm going to write and write...and write! Check out the gorgeous leaf border! I'm pretty sure I will never need another border punch, who knew the cricut cartridges have like every border you can ever want...and no extra storage needed..plus I feel like I get sooooo much bang for my buck! { This one was cut with Straight from the nest.}

OK OK I know you just want the dish on the GYPSY GIVEAWAY!!!

You want a gypsy....need a Gypsy....have to get your hands on this Gypsy now? :)

The entry is simple

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Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Hello and happy Wednesday! Are you ready for another pink-tastic project? Yes I though it was far overdue, its been a while since I had to call pink-a-holics anonymous, Look at this adorable Santa Marci all dressed in pink! Santa Marci is one of many adorable stamps available from Lalaland crafts and I'm having such a grand time as a guest designer its been amazing!

I usually like my handwriting, but every time I try to journal something i get all "shaky" and nervous and my writing looks....well pretty terrible to be honest. Its just what I do, do you have that problem? Do you choke when it comes time to journal, please tell me I'm not the only one! OK I remember this day like it was yesterday, it was so much fun the girls took hundreds of pics, and my personal favorites are the ones of them making goofy faces, or posing like charlies angels, it was great to see them get along all day! :)

Santa Marci and Echo Park Everybody Loves Christmas papers were the perfect story telling vehicles for this layout, Marci is gorgeous in pink and her paper pieced bear and glittery trim are just how I envisioned I would use this stamp the first time I saw it! {love her} Thanks so much for stopping in today, as always happy creating!

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Welcome to my weekly Imagine that series week #3. This week I have tackled printing and cutting an image from the Cindy Loo cartridge. By using two cartridges in your cricut Imagine you can add any of the imagine patterns on your cartridge to any cut on your cricut cartridge. Start by putting your desired cartridges in each side of the machine.I have chosen better together I selected the treat box and then hit the edit function {red pencil} and selected the blue patterned paper. and pushed "apply" the box was cut using fit to page function.

My daughter was adamant that I print this super cute heart and sentiment, at first I thought "what can I do with that?" but then realized its such a versatile image! What a sweet thank you for a music teacher, or its perfect for an Itunes gift card, or just an "I love you" for your sweetie.

I think a yummy teat container is just right for most any occasion, and now that you know you can print your cardstock to match your cricut art image as easy as 1 2 3 I hope you will give it a try! The Imagine is not just for cards, as you can see its a snap to create unique and fun gifts as well!

Friday, November 12, 2010

If you like cute little trouble making monkeys than you are gonna' love today's project! As you know I have been working on baby shower goodies all week, and I finally had time to work on my gift and a card to go with it! This adorable monkey was cut using my cricut and the create a critter cartridge, if you don't have this cartridge it is a must have!

I'm a firm believer in making your cricut cuts come to life by altering them and using all the wonderful layers, this monkey has an extra special treatment going on! I have coated the layer with flocking for a fuzzy texture! Simply use your heat and stick powder or glue and give your critters a real life feel! How ca-ute is he? {I cant stand it!}

I have used the super fun sketch from Taylored expressions and I'm really happy with the way my card turned out {yes I know it doesn't match the theme of the shower} but seriously I could NOT make any more rocking horses or bears! ...I will be sharing those with you later! I had to do something totally different for my gift! {or I was going to pop a spring} *hee hee*

Just a few brightly colored layette essentials to add to her collection, I love the just one year mix and match items from Target...they remind me of shopping for clothes when I was little in the Granimals section! Do you remember those? Oh man it was so much fun just match the tags and it was guaranteed to go together for a fashion Diva 5 year old it was Amazing ! Ummm got a little off topic there........ moving on!

I think that my absolute favorite part of giving a gift is the wrapping, presentation is everything! I owned a children's boutique for 2 years and I got giddy when a customer had the item wrapped, it was like they were doing ME a favor :) Its just one of the things I find great joy in! My signature paper and package embellishment became well known in my area, so young mothers knew that the gift came from my store. I like to give a hint of what the boxes hold inside, it adds to the joy of the unwrapping!

Thanks for letting me share my shower gift and fuzzy monkey card with you, and thanks for stopping in. Have a great day and as always happy creating!

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Every now and again someone you know could use a card to lift their spirits. Today is my regular post at LaLaLand crafts and I always have such a good time coloring Luka and Marci, its amazing the way they come to life and capture your heart with those sweet little faces! Allow me to introduce Luka with truck, he is one of my favorites because he looks so much like my nephew Mario. {love} that little guy!

Luka is colored with a mix of Prisma pencils and copics, he is ready for fall all decked out on apple cider paper from imaginisce, and he is looking like he is ready to head outdoors to play! If you have a project made with any lalaland stamps be sure to add it to the customer gallery for a chance to win the monthly drawing!

About Shantaie

Hi I'm Shantaie the face and the glitter & grit behind Inkingpink. I'm a creative rulebreaker, and encourage you to be one too! I celebrate almost every holiday, occasion, and "just because"with gifts. I run purely on caffeine, sparkling beverages & laughter. Oh and chocolate too.

If you like to craft, create, or glue stuff together, this may be the place for you! I invite you to be inspired, learn, share, and make Inkingpink a place where you can feel at home.

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This blog is for personal inspiration only and all projects are my original designs unless otherwise stated. No comercial use, or copied material used for contest entries or publications are permitted without my written expression. Im a Cricut Circle designer and Provocraft and many other generous companies have provided me with products and materials to work with. However I do not endorse any product that I do not believe in or use myself.